1. Field
The described embodiments relate to techniques for cooling integrated circuits.
2. Related Art
A solid-state drive is a type of memory that stores information on multiple integrated circuits. For example, the integrated circuits may include a solid-state non-volatile memory, such as flash memory chips or dynamic-random-access-memory (DRAM) chips. Solid-state drives are increasingly popular because, unlike hard-disk drives, they do not contain moving parts, and are therefore more reliable, have reduced power consumption and generate less noise.
However, flash memory chips, such as NAND flash devices, are susceptible to memory wear after repeated program-erase cycles. In particular, stored information can be lost if a specified maximum number of program-erase cycles (such as 1,000,000 program-erase cycles) is exceeded. This memory wear can be exacerbated by the temperature increase associated with the heat generated during operation of a flash memory chip.
More expensive, solid-state drives based on DRAM chips offer reduced latency and are not susceptible to memory wear. However, DRAM chips also generate heat during operation. The temperature increase associated with this heat can adversely impact other components in electronic devices that include solid-state drives.
More generally, the computational performance of integrated circuits has increased significantly in recent years. This increased performance has been accompanied by an increase in power consumption and associated heat generation. Furthermore, this additional heat generation has made it harder to maintain acceptable operational temperatures in these integrated circuits.
Cooling integrated circuits that include wireless-communication circuits (which are sometimes referred to as ‘wireless-communication integrated circuits’) can be especially challenging. This is because these integrated circuits are often enclosed in electromagnetic-interference shields to reduce interference.
Existing approaches to cooling a wireless-communication integrated circuit often use an electromagnetic-interference shield as a heat sink. Thus, a thermal-interface material is often included between electromagnetic-interference shield and wireless-communication integrated circuit to increase the thermal conductance between them. However, there are limits to the thermal power that can be conducted away from wireless-communication integrated circuits via this thermal path, which can constrain the performance of wireless-communication integrated circuits.